Auction "sniping" is the practice of waiting until the very last second in an online auction before placing the winning bid. By waiting until the last possible second, nobody else can get in and increase your bid.
Here's an interesting solution to the "problem", sent in by a reader of David Coursey's anchordesk column.
For every minute you maintain the high bid, you get a point. The bidder with the most points at the end of the auction is the "Auction Leader," and has the right to match the "winning bid" after the close of auction and to purchase the item.
The auction item would reach its final sale price earlier in the auction process, giving each bidder a better understanding of how other bidders value the object. This should on average increase the sale price of the item. Additionally, the seller would know how well his auction is doing before it ends. A bidder would know early on in the auction what his odds of winning are."